An Indiana union suing Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels over right-to-work legislation is claiming that it violates the 13th amendment  the law that outlaws slavery.

In the lawsuit, the union claims that the Indiana right-to-work bill "requires dues-paying union members to work alongside non-union personnel," which the union contends is slavery.

Ed Maher, spokesman for the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 150, didnt return a message left on his office phone.

Patrick Wright, senior legal analyst for the Mackinac Center for Public Policy, said the unions claim was ridiculous.

"The legal argument expands the definition of chutzpa," Wright said. "Compulsory membership and coerced dues and fees are the hallmarks of the union movement, yet they claim that giving workers more choice is an act of enslavement."

The International Union of Operating Engineers Local 150 filed its lawsuit Feb. 22 against Indianas governor, attorney general and labor commissioner.

Vincent Vernuccio, labor policy counsel at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, said it was insulting to invoke slavery into the debate on right-to-work.

Its insulting to the great civil rights leaders to compare the new forced unionism movement to what civil rights leaders went through in the 1950s and 1960s, Vernuccio said. "In reality, it is workers who dont have the ability to say no and keep their jobs in the forced-unionization states.

Right-to-work laws prohibit employers and unions from entering into contracts that make workers financial support of the union a condition of employment. There are 23 states with right-to-work laws.

Hogwash! The unions are grabbing at straws to try and secure their survival.

"Right to work" staters can go anywhere within RTW states and get the jobs of their choice, without being indentured by a "union boss" and required to graze in herds or paying the "union tax".

If there was ever a "massa" at a workplace, it's the union boss/steward. They spend their entire existance searching for any "infraction" that will empower them over the employer to extract money, and protect their "dues payer" from losing his job, ergo, their monthly dues.

Accusing others of what they, themselves, are doing is a favority Alinsky trick of the left. The union bosses are mini-mobsters who want to strong-arm employers with internal "protection rackets". The bosses are the ones with the diamond pinkie rings and limosines, all bought with the laborers dues (and obama government "stimuli").

The perfect example of the mindset and intentions of unions is set forth by the way obama is intending to "dictate" to the whole country, it's all about the bosses' power, and not about the workers.

Many of the examples I've seen showed the union workers with complacent, "I can't be fired, so why work hard." attitudes.

Unions are dinosaurs and need to be eradicated. The RTW laws are one way to do that very thing.

Disclaimer:
Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual
posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its
management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the
exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.